Ladybug #2 – Almost Perfect Camouflage

Size: 6″ x 6″Support: Gallery wrap stretched canvasDescription: A close-up painting of a red ladybug sitting on a red flower. This painting will not need a frame. Gallery wrap means the canvas wraps around the support. This allows the artist to paint around the edges of the painting.

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Artist Comments: This painting is of a lady bug sitting on a red flower and the ladybugs’ color is almost the perfect camouflage. I named it “Almost Perfect Camouflage” because the red color of the ladybug blends in so well with the flower he/she is sitting on. A natural predator would have to look very close to see it.

Where did they get their name?Are all ladybugs female? What do you call a ladybug that is a male? How can you tell them apart? All great questions!

The name ladybug is the common name for Coccinellidae, a Latin word meaning scarlet, and is the American name for the insect Europeans call the “lady beetle” or “ladybird beetle.” Whether you call them a ladybug, ladybird or lady beetle, the name is thought to have its origins in an old legend from Europe during the Middle ages.

Legend has it that the Europeans agricultural crops were being destroyed by pests, so Catholic farmers began praying to the Blessed Lady (the Virgin Mary) for help. Soon afterward they noticed tiny black and red beetles in their fields eating the unwanted pests. Their crops were miraculously spared the damage from the infestation. The farmers attributed their good fortune to the tiny insects which they called “the beetles of our Lady.” The red color of the beetle represents Mary’s cloak and the black spots her sorrows. Through the years they eventually came to be known as ladybugs.

Even though they are called lady bugs, they do come in both the male and female varieties, and both sexes are called the same thing… “ladybugs.” To the naked eye it is hard to distinguish the male from female ladybugs, although, females are larger than males. And that is hard to distinguish unless they are next to each other.